FlashBak Review - Part 1

Recently, the cool people at FlashBak sent me one of their products to take for a spin. Last night, I gave the FlashBak my first test. I went for a night run wearing the FlashBak wrapped around my arm. I thought that this would give me visibility from at least three sides rather than just the back, which would make sense for riding a bike on the road, but I wanted to be seen by cars on all sides for my run.

The FlashBak

Clipped to itself to wear on my arm

Setting the FlashBak up was easy. The small attachment clips look like toothy alligator mouths and will grip securely onto clothing, bags, bike luggage, and even the FlashBak itself. The battery pack slips easily into a bag or pocket. The main power switch is on the battery pack, but a secondary on/off switch clips onto your body wherever you find convenient to easily start and stop the flashing. The switch itself flashes, so you can see whether it’s on even if the whole FlashBak light array is on your back. Its construction also appears to be water resistant (though I haven’t tested it).

Little alligator clip - these things are strong!

The first thing I noticed when running with the FlashBak was that I could see the lights reflecting off of surfaces around me – the pavement, the snow, street signs, windows. I saw a few heads turn – in and out of cars – so it definitely draws attention and seems to be bright enough even in more lit up areas. Everything stayed comfortably in place without slipping or detaching from my clothing. And if I had stopped at a store or to talk with a neighbor, I could have easily turned the flashing off during the pause.

Here is a video demonstrating the flashing of the device taken in my dark basement. I make no claims of awesome editing, and I haven’t done any public speaking in a long time. Please don't count how many times I say, "Umm"!  ;) So anyway…here it is.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where I will hop on my bike and record the FlashBak at a distance to test the visibility farther away on the road.

A little P90X

Over the weekend, a friend brought over his P90X videos for the hubby and I to try out with him. We did a fighting workout on Saturday, yoga on Sunday, and then went running on Monday.

I have definitely been a little sore, but not too bad! The P90X workouts are challenging and fun. I’m eager to try out some of the weights oriented videos to see how they go.

As I look ahead to my fast approaching marathon training period, I think I’ll add some P90X as a cross training option along with road and mountain biking, tennis…whatever I can fit in.

The only down side to doing exercise videos with my hubby in our basement, is that he’s so tall he can’t lift his arms all the way over his head – let alone jump – without hitting the ceiling. Hmm. Maybe we can set up a DVD player in the garage when it gets warmer out. Ha! What a show for the neighbors that will be!

PT Update

I’ve gone to three sessions of PT so far now, and it’s going well. I’ve been diligently doing my exercises and stretches at home. My basement is starting to look like a mini gym with the various bands, weights, and foam rollers that I’m collecting!

My hip has felt sore or fatigued from all the work, but strangely it also feels like it’s getting stronger. It hasn’t really hurt during running. It actually feels uncomfortable most often when I’m sitting with my legs at a bad angle – in my car, in my desk chair at work (my feet don’t rest flat on the ground), on the couch with my feet up on the coffee table – or laying down with that leg bent slightly to the side.

I need to increase my running frequency and see how it handles that.

I’ve got five more PT sessions, and I assume that somewhere in that process we’ll reevaluate where I’m at.

On a side note, I’d love to work in this PT facility! It’s like a combination doctor’s office/gym. I’d love to learn all the biomechanics necessary to diagnose a patient’s problem, suggest the best treatment plan for them, and then walk them through the steps to recovery. Cool job!

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